


don't ever look back

by manesalex



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manesalex/pseuds/manesalex
Summary: TK reluctantly attends a frat party with his friend, Paul, and meets Carlos for the first time. A prequel of sorts toI’ll help you carry on.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week





	don't ever look back

TK isn’t certain about this party. One of his father’s conditions for paying his tuition at UT Austin rather than NYU, where Owen could keep an eye on him, was that TK try to make friends and socialize. He knows his father worries about him relapsing with no actual support system, but he doesn’t think attending frat parties is the best way to go about it.

Still, one of the few friends he’s managed to make on campus so far, Paul, is thinking about rushing Delta Kappa Epsilon, so TK is going with him to the party as moral support. He’s not certain that a fraternity in Texas will be very welcoming of either one of them, but, surprisingly, Paul has dismissed his concerns.

They’re greeted at the door by a stumbling blonde guy, pounding music, and the strong smell of cheap weed and even cheaper beer. “Beer and pizza are in the kitchen,” he gestures vaguely in what TK assumes is the right direction.

Paul leads the way inside, TK following closely, glancing to the left at the shouts and cheers from what looks like an expensive table that’s currently set up for beer pong.

They reach the kitchen, where an almost annoyingly attractive man is filling a red solo cup with beer from the keg. He hands it to Paul with a smile, “Glad you could come.”

“You do know about me, right?” Paul asks. “My friend suggested maybe you didn’t and-”

“What, that you’re straight?” the man asks with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah. I don’t judge.” He shrugs, glances over at TK, and looks him up and down in a way that makes TK shiver, before holding out a hand. TK tries not to stare at the bulging muscles or think about this man pinning him up against a wall. “I’m Carlos,” the man introduces himself, gaze heated.

“TK,” he manages to say, taking Carlos’s hand for a moment.

“Can I get you a beer, TK?” he offers. “Or something else?” His grin turns flirtatious.

“Water? Or a soda?”

Carlos reaches back toward the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water, handing it to him and watching closely as he opens it and takes a sip.

* * *

TK barely notices when Paul leaves or the frat house empties out. He’s too busy talking to and flirting with Carlos to notice anything outside of them until the sun comes up.

“Walk you home?” Carlos offers when sunlight starts to come in through the kitchen windows.

TK nods in agreement quickly, following Carlos through the house. It’s a mess, red solo cups everywhere in various stages of emptiness, a homemade gravity bong sitting on a side table. The dining room table that had been used for beer bong looks like it’s already been ruined, beer spilled everywhere. There’s a man passed out on the couch and another on the floor, snoring loudly. He’s sure that, if he looked, he’d find more people passed out around the house in random places.

“Are your parties always like this?” TK asks when they step outside into the bright sunlight.

“Pretty much,” Carlos replies. “It’s not really my scene and I can’t get away with hiding out alone in my room, so you can see why I stay in the kitchen?”

TK nods, “So why join a frat then?” He reaches out and takes Carlos’s hand, interlacing their fingers.

“The brotherhood thing is real, at least in Delta Kappa Epsilon,” Carlos replies. “I didn’t really have that growing up. My dad was busy working two jobs and I didn’t have any actual brothers. Four older sisters,” he clarifies. “It’s nice to just be one of the guys sometimes.”

TK nods. He’s never thought about it that way. “I’ve never had to think about that, I guess. Growing up around firehouses, you’re always surrounded by men.”

“And that’s what you want to do with your life, right?” Carlos asks. Off of TK’s nod, he continues, “So, you don’t need a college degree to become a firefighter, right?”

“No, I don’t. But my dad wanted me to get a college degree. Give me other options in case I change my mind,” he answers. And then he quickly clarifies, “I’m not going to, but that was our deal.”

“Well, I’m glad you agreed to that. And that you came all the way to Texas,” Carlos says. Their hands are swinging between them and, for the first time, TK feels like he could maybe fit in here.

“I am too,” he says softly. “What about you? What do you want to do?”

“I want to be a cop, but my parents want me to be a lawyer or a doctor,” Carlos says. “So, I guess I’m humoring them. Like you are with your father.”

TK turns to look at him, unable to help the smile spreading across his face. Carlos had looked gorgeous inside a smoke-filled, dirty frat house, but he looks even better here, smiling in the sunlight.

TK stops when they reach his dorm building, leaning against the brick wall, hand still in Carlos’s. “I’m glad I went to that party last night,” he smiles.

“Me too,” Carlos replies. “Would you like to do this again sometime? Not the party, but dinner?”

TK nods, digging into his pocket for his phone, unlocking it and handing it to Carlos, “Give me your number? We can set something up.”

Carlos takes it and types for a second, grabbing his own phone when it buzzes and handing TK’s back to him. “Now I have yours too.”

“Good. I’ll expect a call,” TK grins, tugging Carlos towards him and spinning them around, pressing Carlos against the hard brick before he presses his lips against Carlos’s.

It’s just a little kiss, but it’s like a match to a fuse and Carlos is spinning him and pressing him against the brick wall, hips slamming into TK’s, grinding against him just right, making him moan into Carlos’s mouth.

And then Carlos is pulling away, looking annoyingly calm, even with his lips red from kisses. “I’ll talk to you soon. Get some sleep, TK.”

TK leans back against the brick and watches as Carlos walks away, watches until he’s out of sight, before he swipes his key card in front of the dorm building door and opens it, taking the stairs two at a time to the third floor and walking into, his dorm room, collapsing on his bed with a smile on his face.

He thinks he’s going to like Texas.


End file.
